CHAPTER 5

They all walked back to the golden palace. Jane's arm firmly gripping Thor's and Darcy's linked with Loki's while their father followed behind. The two couples chatted happily but they knew that a long talk was in order for each of them. There was just so much that needed to be said and Loki especially was not looking forward to revealing what he had been up to since she had been gone. Darcy and Jane though were trying to figure out how to break the troubling news they both had to share, gently. It was hard enough that they had been separated for years but the loss that both women had suffered was going to be hard for them to reveal. Neither wanted to cause their beloved's anymore pain than they had already suffered but they knew that they couldn't keep something like this a secret from the men that they loved.

They walked into the throne room where Odin was sitting and approached the Allfather, kneeling when they came to the dais.

"Princess Jarissa, goddess of Reason and Intellect, beloved of my son Thor, Welcome to Asgard." He then turned and addressed Darcy, "Princess Darissa, goddess of Truth and Compassion, beloved of my son Loki, Welcome to Asgard."

Both Jane and Darcy murmured a thank you to the Allfather but remained kneeling before the throne.

"Father, did you know that they were coming through the Bifrost when you told Loki and I that we were not to go to Midgard?" Thor finally asked Odin.

Odin smiled and merely nodded to both his son's before the Queen approached the two young women who were still kneeling before the King. "Jarissa, Darissa, it is so good to have the two of you back again."

Jane and Darcy, smiling, nodded and asked to be excused, for they were weary from traveling through the Bifrost and needed to sleep but before they could they knew that they each needed to talk to their respective mate.

They were dismissed and the two brothers led the two sisters to their respective rooms.

Darcy was lead to a room she knew well. It was the same room she had occupied before everything had happened and she was sent to earth with her memory erased. The room was golden in color but with shades of blue and green incorporated into the décor. At the door Loki turned to give her some much needed rest but she wasn't about to let him walk away from her when they had so much to talk about. Grabbing his hand she pulled him into her room and closed the door behind her, before leading him to the sofa in the sitting room portion of her room.

"Loki, there is something I need to tell you and I don't want you to be mad at me for this either, nor do I want you to blame yourself for what I am about to tell you," she started and seeing that he looked very confused she decided to start over. "Do you remember the night we became betrothed?" she asked nervously.

He looked into her eyes and nodded allowing himself to remember that night like it had happened yesterday and not a millennium ago.

Flashback

He saw her as she walked into the dining hall with her sister. Her dress was a cool blue in color whereas her sisters was lavender. He sought out her eyes that seemed to beckon him to her. He slowly made his way to where she stood and offered a slight bow to the woman before him. "Princess Darissa, may I have a word with you for a moment?" he asked, but before receiving her answer, he pulled her down the hall to the garden below his room. The same garden where he had first laid eyes on the woman that was on his arm.

"Prince Loki, what is it that you need to talk to me about exactly?" she asked softly looking at him with her wide cobalt eyes.

"Princess…"

"You may use my name Your Highness," she teased

"Darissa, I am not sure how to say this so I am just going to come right out and say it. I find that I have fallen in love with you and I was wondering if you would do me the honor of becoming my wife?" he said in a nervous rush.

Darissa looked at the man before her and secretly smiled. She had been in love with him from nearly the beginning of their short acquaintance and here he was proposing to her! Letting her smile dominate her face she threw herself at him and whispered huskily into his ear "Yes, Loki, I will….I will marry you. I love you too."

He was surprised and elated that she had said yes. He had not been sure of her feelings for him when he had asked but he had taken a risk in asking in the first place. However, now that she had said yes he wanted nothing more than to kiss her senseless. He gently pushed her away from him before capturing her lips in a gentle kiss, that she after a shocked moment, returned with vigor. Gentleness turned to suppressed passion as their kiss escalated quickly, yet before things got out of hand he pulled away and smiled down at the woman before him.

Darissa pulled away and then smiled before leading him out of the garden and back to the Dining Hall. "I do have something for you Loki. May I bring it to you later this evening?" she asked, blushing.

Curiosity peaked in his eyes and he nodded as they walked into the hall and took their seats.

Later that evening she knocked quietly at his door. When he opened it she was holding a small package. "Would you care to come in my Lady?" he said with a grin.

Darissa brushed past him and sat on his bed which was covered in green silk sheets and a gold comforter. She held her gift out to him and waited while he unwrapped it.

He looked at the book in his hands turning it over and trying to find a title and when he was unsuccessful he heard her giggle softly. "Open it up," she said giddy with excitement. So he opened it to find that she had inscribed the books' first page in the Light Elves flowing script:

To my Beloved Loki
With all my Love,
Darissa Ashiersdottir

"Thank you," he managed to say before turning towards her with a gift of his own. Handing it to her he waited while she opened her gift. Her reaction was exactly the one that he had been hoping for. "Loki! It's beautiful. Truly it is." His gift had been a gold ring with sparkling green gems encircling the band. "Will you put it on me Loki?" she asked him as she held the ring out to him.

He took the ring and slid it slowly onto her left ring finger before bringing her hand up to his lips and kissing his betrothal ring that now encircled her slender finger. "Loki," she breathed out slowly. He looked up into her eyes and then pulled her into his arms and kissed her like he had wanted to kiss her out in the garden earlier.

Before either of them knew what was happening they were both lying on his bed, his lips caressing the flesh of her exposed neck as his hands explored the rest of her.

She moaned as pleasure assaulted her with every brush of his hands upon her bare flesh. (The gown she had been wearing had been disposed of earlier.) She wanted to touch him as he was touching her and began by undoing the laces of his tunic before pushing it off his shoulders and down to his waist.

He had made his way down to her bare chest by the time she had pushed the tunic completely off of him. He tried not to startle her overmuch but when he swiped his tongue across one aching nipple she arched violently up into him, pressing them together firmly. His smirk grew as his name on her lips was continually panted as his lips continued their exploration of her person.

Loki snapped out of his memory, a smirk on his lips as he looked over at the woman before him. "Yes, I remember that night perfectly. Why did you want me to remember it Darissa?" he asked a bit perplexed.

Darcy looked at him and knew she had to answer him. "That night Loki…." she paused trying to calm not only her nerves but her emotions as well before continuing in a slightly shacking voice, "That night Loki, I became pregnant. That was the reason I didn't want to leave you when you all but forced me to go…to leave you here while I was sent to another realm for my own protection. But I don't think anyone knew that by traveling through the Bifrost it would harm a woman who was with child and when I woke up on Earth not remembering anything and the doctors telling me that I had lost my baby. I didn't know what to feel then. I didn't remember how I could have gotten pregnant in the first place and here the doctors were, telling me that I had lost the child I didn't even know I was carrying. It wasn't until Jane and I remembered everything that I remembered when and how I had gotten pregnant and I was devastated to have lost our child, Loki. It wasn't your fault though so don't blame yourself for this. Nobody could have foreseen this loss and part of me wishes that I had not lost the baby….because that would have meant that I would have at least had a part of you with me while I lived on Midgard," she finished barely keeping herself from crying yet again at the remembered loss.

Loki was in shock. He remembered the day he had to send her away and her unwillingness to comply and now he understood why she had been so unwilling, she had been carrying his child! A child that they would never get to hold, never get to see. Looking into her face, he could see her pain clearly. He knew that she was blaming herself for not telling him in the beginning. Thinking back on it, he knew that had she told him he would never have been able to send her away. Reaching out, he pulled he into his arms and let her grieve the child they had lost unknowingly to their own ignorance of the Bifrosts' power.

"Darissa it's not your fault either, my Love. As you said no one knew that it would harm a woman with child. If I had known you were carrying my child all those years ago I doubt I would have been able to let you go then, any more than I can let you go now," he said as he rocked his lover in his arms.

"Loki, I know that we haven't been together for ten years but I would like to resume our relationship. I want to get to know you all over again and I want to fall in love with you all over again. I'm not saying that I don't love you now because I do…it's just we have been apart for so long that I don't know the man you are now. People change as do their feelings for each other….I have no doubt that you still love me but as of right now you don't know the woman I am now. I know I have changed and I am sure you have too. Don't think I won't be asking what you have been up too since I have been gone because I will be but not right now. For starters can you please call me Darcy? It's the name I am most familiar with right now. I will understand if you slip up and call me by my actual name but I am just saying that I prefer Darcy over Darissa."

"First off, my dear, you have been gone for over a millennium and I too would like to resume our relationship. I know that because of our unfortunate separation we don't know each other the way we used too. I think I will enjoy getting to know the woman I fell in love with all over again. But I will let you know that yes, I do still love you. I can't lie about something that important especially not to the goddess of Truth," he smirked when he said that.

Darcy was confused. How could she have been gone a millennium when she knew for a fact she had resided on earth for only ten years. "Loki why did you say I have been gone for over a millennium? I was only on earth for ten years. It makes no sense."

He figured that the time difference between the two realms would eventually come into their conversation and proceeded to tell her how time ran between the realms.

"So you are telling me that here on Asgard it's been over a millennium but on earth it was only ten years?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I am trying to tell you, Dari….Darcy," he said, catching himself at the last moment when he was about to say her real name instead of the one she said she would rather go by.

"That would mean that for every year that past on Midgard one hundred years passed here on Asgard. Which would mean you were without me for far longer than I was without you, though at the same time it is the same amount of time. Which I fine very confusing.'

He laughed at the face she made then. "So what have you been up to Loki?"

He wasn't ready to answer that and was afraid that when he told her she would go screaming back to earth just to get away from him. "Darcy, I think it better to show you some part of myself that would make the explanation go a little bit smoother."

"Okay show away."

He allowed his magic to seep away to reveal to her his true form. He had expected her like everyone else to be revolted by what he was but he should have known that she was called the goddess of compassion for a reason. Darcy stared at Loki for a moment before standing and walking right up to him. Taking his now blue face into her hands she leaned up and kissed him. He stood frozen in shock, not quite believing that she had touched him in his Jotun form or for that matter kissed him with not an ounce of fear in her face.

"Darcy," he manager to whisper her name.

"Loki, I don't care what you look like, you are still you and not the monster you think you are. Besides it's kinda sexy," she added the latter part with a grin and a wink. "You may be of Frost Giant decent but it's not who you are."

He didn't know what to say. No one had ever taken to his Jotun form kindly and here she was touching him like it didn't matter to her, and maybe it didn't. He knew her well enough to know that she had never looked at his outward appearance if she had she would have most likely being chasing his brother instead of spending her time with him when they had first met.

"You are not afraid of me are you Darcy?" he finally asked her softly.

"Nope." she returned cheekily

"Why? Everyone else sees me as a monster so why don't you?"

"Loki, you know that I cannot tell a lie and if I was, you would be able to tell, plus it's almost impossible for me to do so since I am the goddess of Truth and all, but believe me when I say that you do not frighten me. The Frost Giants are people just like you and me; they may have started a war but that does not make them evil and if you remember right the Demons of Muspelheim invaded Jotunheim too, but were pushed back by the Frost Giants. So therefore I cannot see them as evil. And in retrospect the same goes for you too."

He allowed his magic to cover him once more as he returned to his normal coloring. "Hey! I didn't say you could change back!" she cried out indigently. He had to chuckle at the face she was making but then sobered up to resume his story.

"So, anyway, after I sent you away my memory was also taken though I can't remember exactly when it was though. A few years later I learned of my true heritage and that Odin had basically kidnapped me as a baby at the end of the war with the Frost Giants and made me his son. Father banish Thor for something I goaded him into and then being angry at father I went to the armory and that's when I found out that I was not a true Asgardian but a Frost Giant even if I was basically a runt. Father fell into his sleep and I was made acting King. Being so angry with my entire family for hiding my true heritage from me I tried to kill my brother while he was banished to Midgard. I sent the destroyer to kill him and basically destroyed an entire mortal town in the process. He managed to change in the short time he was there and he was found worthy of being king and so he returned but I figured that father would be proud of me if I destroyed the Jotun's, the race of monsters that I had grown up hearing they were. To save that unworthy race, Thor destroyed the bridge and the Bifrost and I fell into the abyss. I managed to survive and was given a new purpose and decided that I would take over Midgard and rule them. I was given the tesseract and I enslaved two Midgardians to help with my plan. I had not expected my brother to team up with a small band of heros to stop me. The war ended with them winning and I was returned to Asgard a criminal. Father punished me by having me placed in prison though mother made sure I was at least comfortable, as per my station. But, it didn't matter, I was not in the least bit sorry for what I had done. And so I stayed in my prison for a millennium. I was only released earlier this year... I will understand if you want to break our betrothal Darissa…Darcy," the last said with such pain she knew that he was repentant of what he had done even if he didn't think he was.

"Loki, I am not about to break off our betrothal just because you went slightly crazy for a while and tried to take over the world. I love you and nothing you do will change that, you understand me? Nothing! I know that if I had been here that you probably would not have done any of it and Thor would still be the prideful man I remember him to be and not the ruler he was meant to be. You did that for him. You, Loki. You helped him, though I don't think that that had been your original intent, but still, you helped him see the error of his ways. I could never see you for anything but the man I have always known you to be. You were not named the god of Mischief for nothing you know," she grinned.

"So now that you know what I have been doing while you were away what have you been doing while living on Midgard these past few years?" Loki asked genuinely wanting to know how she had lived among the mortals.

"Well, as I said I woke up in a hospital with no idea of who I was or even where I was. It was a rather scary feeling. I was roommates with Jane who was also in the same boat as I. Both of us were suffering from what the doctors called amnesia, though they couldn't figure out the cause. All that they could tell us was that we had both miscarried and that we were suffering from memory loss for no apparent reason. When we were released we both found jobs to support ourselves and I somehow became Jane's assistant. She is a brilliant scientist you know. Anyway that is how S.H.I.E.L.D. found us. They were interested in Jane's work and offered us both a job with them. We were moved to New York City and began our work with them. Jane believed that there was a way to visit other worlds that no one believe existed, and now I know why she was so insistent on the matter. I think some small part of her remembered who and what she was. Anyway she began building a machine that she hoped would be able to transport people to other worlds and S.H.I.E.L.D. was really interested in her research. They told her that they would fund her if she would agree to come work for them. She agreed and as her assistant I went where she did. We had no idea that we were sisters yet. So for the past ten years we have worked for them. We were both in New York when you tried to take over but we were not really let on to what was really happening only that some 'mad man' was trying to take over the world (their words not mine). We knew each and every one of the members of the Avenger's team and Jane has recently been working closely with Tony Stark and Dr. Banner to get her machine up and running."

"Well, anyway … about a month ago Jane found a strange scroll mixed in with some paperwork that Agent Coulson had brought to her and left on my desk. We both looked it over and we deciphered it as best as we could. Once we finished deciphering it we both felt sure that it was talking about us in some way. A week later I came into the office with my memories completely restored thanks to the strange dreams I had been having and told Jane that we were sisters and that we were in fact engaged. She to Thor and I to you. I then told her that we needed to finish the machine and get it operational because I didn't want to spend another moment apart for you. It took us a few more weeks to finish it and this morning we decided to test it out. Though neither of us was sure it would send us were we hoped it would and it was by sheer luck we both ended up here and in one piece too, I might add."

Loki then recalled that she had said nothing about the ring she had been wearing when she had been sent to Midgard and so he asked her if she still had it. Darcy smiled and pulled the chain she was wearing around her neck off and showed him that she did indeed still have the ring but asked him to wait for it to be placed upon her finger once again. "I said that I wanted to get to know you again first Loki. When the time is right the ring will once again grace my hand but until then I will wear it on this chain close to my heart where it has been residing for the past ten years of my life."

He nodded in understanding, knowing that when the time was right he would again ask for her hand in marriage. She was right though they did need to get to know each other again before he could place that ring back on her finger where it belonged. He couldn't wait for the day when he could and he hoped it was soon, for he wasn't sure if he could go another day without claiming her yet again as his and only his.